You've never seen Crowds unless you've been to China (Patreon)
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Take a look at this clip: https://youtu.be/8LScr9-YtdY
This happened last year as part of Shenzhen's anniversary (I on purpose avoided it) although I watched the lights from the top of my building, I refused to go anywhere near the event itself.
There are two astounding things about crowds in China, 1) They're inconceivably big! I personally have been in situations (especially when travelling and visiting anywhere around a national holiday or event) where I've been swept up in a crowd numbering 10s of thousands, that's not an exaggeration and I have the footage to prove it, people love it and it's almost as if they'd be disappointed if they weren't jostled around like sardines...
It probably has something to do with conformity and it's very apparent that in Chinese society the cool thing to do is "what everyone else is doing" as seen in this above picture from the same event :)
2) No one seems to get hurt! This is something that has always baffled me, in all of the crowds I've had the displeasure of being a part of and also during all of my years in China, I've only ever heard of one stampede/trampling event which happened at a school when someone shouted out that there was a ghost and the children all tried to escape the assembly hall trampling a few of their classmates to death. While I'm sure it happens, the fact that it doesn't happen often or hardly at all is an absolute miracle in my mind. Perhaps it's because Chinese society are used to the dynamics of heavily overcrowded situations and know how to navigate big crowds through a lifetime of experience? It is still a mystery but one that baffles me whenever I see a crowd during the Chinese new year or at any big event.
Either way, You'll never see a crowd until you go to China!
- Stay Awesome
SerpentZA